Red Figure Fish Plate – After a Campanian original by D’Agostino Painter, Boston MFA
This high-quality reproduction is inspired by a Campanian red-figure fish plate in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, dated to about 350–325 B.C. and related to the D’Agostino Painter. Made in South Italy (Campania), the original belongs to the Late Classical taste for witty, beautifully observed “seafood menus” painted for the table.
Inside the dish, a bream, a striped perch, and a curling octopus circle the central depression, their bodies turned inward in the characteristic Campanian manner. The painter’s hand is especially visible in the delicate observation of nature: the fish show carefully placed stripes, lively mouths and gills, and subtle mottling across head and belly. The octopus is rendered with expressive, tapering arms, defined with feathered dilute glaze—a sketch-like brushwork that evokes movement and the shimmer of creatures underwater.
The decoration is framed with refined borders: a band of black dots runs around the upper rim, while the overhanging rim is wrapped with a graceful ivy vine. At the center, the depression is traditionally gloss-black, encircled by a broad reserved band—an elegant contrast that anchors the composition.
Both functional in spirit and striking as an object, this fish plate brings the coastal imagination of the ancient Mediterranean into the present: a celebration of marine abundance, painted with a connoisseur’s eye and made to be enjoyed.
Dimensions : H 4.5cm, Max D:25cm